'He is coming back': Ex-cricketer gives an interesting verdict on Rishabh Pant's return

Indian cricket team wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant met with a deadly car accident at the end of December 2022 while he was returning to his home in Uttarakhand. Pant was given immediate medical help and was rushed to a hospital in Dehradun and later airlifted to Mumbai. Pant is currently undergoing his rehabilitation period at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru along with KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. 

3 things you need to know 

• Rishabh Pant played his last international match against Bangladesh in December 2022
• Pant's position in the ODI World Cup 2023 was fixed as a wicketkeeper-batsman 
• The ODI World Cup 2023 begins in India from October 5, 2023 

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Aakash Chopra predicts Rishabh Pant's return to Team India 

(Team India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant during the Asia Cup 2022 / Image: AP)

Former Indian cricket team batter Aakash Chopra while speaking on his YouTube has given his verdict on Rishabh Pant's return to the Indian cricket team and believes that his comeback is quite far as of now. Chopra said: 

Rishabh Pant had posted a video where Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were seen batting after a long time. Now his videos have come from which it seems he is coming back. He has started batting against the bowling machine. He has started playing against 140 kph but Pant's comeback is quite far away as of now. 

The conservative guess was that he might get fit by the next IPL or the next (T20) World Cup. Let's see, fingers crossed. Good scenes are coming and we get happy in that itself, that the boy has started moving and playing at least. 

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Team India management search for a replacement for injured Rishabh Pant 

Since the day, Team India batter Rishabh Pant got injured, the Indian team management started to search for his replacement for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023. Players like Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have been given chances in various matches and as of now, Kishan is more likely to replace Pant in the ODI World Cup. Both the players were part of the U19 team in the 2016 World Cup, wherein, Pant received an early India call and now has cemented his place in the side. On the other hand, Kishan performed well in domestic cricket and IPL and now has been given a place in the national team.